In Montreal, Lando Norris faced journalists, preparing for the inevitable questions. Just under an hour prior, while battling for fourth place in the Canadian Grand Prix, he had driven into the rear of his McLaren teammate and title rival, Oscar Piastri. The incident prematurely ended Norris` race three laps from the finish. It was a significant moment within the context of Norris` 2025 season, which has been inconsistent for a driver aiming for his first championship.
Sunday`s event marked a low point in his somewhat volatile season. However, Norris addressed the situation with a candidness rarely seen at the top tier of motorsport.
“I should never have attempted that move; it`s entirely clear in hindsight,” Norris stated when asked by ESPN to explain his perspective on the manoeuvre. “I believed he was drifting slightly to the right, presenting an opening on the left.
“But yes. It was excessively risky, especially with my teammate. I`m glad he was unharmed, and I paid the price for my mistake.”
The price was indeed steep. Norris was immediately out of the race after his car hit the retaining wall. Piastri managed to finish fourth, extending his championship lead over Norris to 22 points.
While this gap is not insurmountable – Norris could potentially regain the lead by winning the Austrian Grand Prix in two weeks if Piastri doesn`t finish – it provides further ammunition for critics questioning his championship credentials. The clumsy contact with his teammate likely reinforced the growing opinion that despite immense talent, Norris is prone to significant errors at crucial junctures. It is difficult, at this moment, to argue that Norris appears to be the McLaren driver best positioned to win the title.
Norris has consistently dismissed external opinions, stating he only values the thoughts of those close to him. Tellingly, his focus on Sunday evening was not on the championship standings, but on the team he has raced for since his Formula 1 debut in 2019 (and whose junior programme he joined even earlier).
“I`ve let the team down, and that will stay with me for a while,” Norris remarked sombrely to the written press.
“When I disappoint them like this, and when I make a fool of myself in a moment like today, yes, I feel a lot of regret about it. I`m not proud of it, and I feel bad and I feel like I`ve let my team down. And that`s always the worst feeling. Of course, I really only need to apologise to all of them and Oscar as well.”
Within McLaren, Norris` immediate show of remorse was highly impactful. Even last year, there were internal concerns that the positive relationship between Norris and Piastri couldn`t endure. They were seen as too young, too evenly matched, too ambitious, and too eager to become world champion. Since it became apparent that McLaren possessed a top-tier car, the team feared the moment their championship-contending drivers would occupy the same piece of asphalt. McLaren boss Andrea Stella had commented just days before that it was a matter of “when,” not “if” – and the “when” arrived memorably on Sunday. But for anyone anticipating a dramatic fallout or a fracture in the relationship between the McLaren drivers, they would have been disappointed.
Instant self-criticism is uncommon in Formula 1. Norris` reaction stood in stark contrast to the petulant response Max Verstappen displayed two weeks prior after his own clear mistake – the moment the four-time world champion angrily drove into George Russell`s car, earning a penalty that brought him close to a race ban. Verstappen was unapologetic immediately after the incident, even vaguely mocking Russell, and asked “does it matter?” when questioned about the appropriateness of a world champion driving into rivals. Verstappen only slightly altered his stance the following day with a social media statement saying the incident “was not right,” notably stopping short of an apology.
After repeatedly facing questions about the topic during media day on Thursday, Verstappen still seemed annoyed by it this weekend, calling the media “pissing me off” and “childish” for bringing it up again after qualifying.
Norris, perhaps the most self-critical driver on the grid, ensured there was no repetition of that behaviour. He could easily have taken a similar approach. Commendably, given that the incident was clearly his responsibility, he accepted all the blame from the outset. Norris apologised even before exiting the car, radioing the team to say: “All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me.” He then approached McLaren team principal Stella to apologise. Later, during a TV interview, he briefly paused to go over to Piastri, shake the Australian`s hand, look him in the eye, and apologise.
His reaction impressed the driver he is currently battling for the title.
“Lando has apologised to me, which I think speaks volumes,” Piastri commented in his own media session. “Lando is a genuinely good person. I believe it`s in his nature and personality to express exactly what he thinks, and… whether it reflects negatively on himself or not doesn`t matter to him. I think that`s a great quality of Lando. It`s beneficial for the entire team going forward that we can have these discussions, race like this, encounter situations that don`t go as planned, and work through them.”
Stella echoed this sentiment.
“We greatly appreciated that Lando immediately owned the situation,” he said. “He raised his hand, took responsibility for the accident, and apologised immediately to the team. He came to apologise to me as team principal to convey his apology to the entire team.”
Stella then added a point that might be more significant for the remainder of Norris` season. The immediate focus following the Canadian Grand Prix will likely be on the implications for Norris` title challenge and what the incident reveals about him as a championship contender. Those discussions and the questions they raise will be valid; the British driver`s inconsistency has sharply contrasted with Piastri`s measured, clinical performances. Betting on Norris to not only overcome the deficit to Piastri but also maintain a lead until the end of the season currently requires a brave wager.
However, the season is long. The British Grand Prix at Silverstone in three weeks marks the halfway point in what has become a significantly extended championship calendar. This likely contributes to why the tension between the McLaren drivers hasn`t escalated into bitterness yet – the two appear to genuinely like each other (a dynamic certainly helped by the way Norris handled himself on Sunday).
McLaren`s concern about an eventual collision stemmed from their decision to allow both drivers to race freely and equally, without restrictions. This policy has been adjusted since the controversial `papaya rules` incident at last year`s Italian Grand Prix, where both drivers approached the Roggia chicane with slightly differing interpretations of CEO Zak Brown`s instruction to avoid unnecessary risks. On that occasion, Piastri had moved around the outside of Norris, who did well to avoid spinning. Looking back, it was an early indicator of how the 2025 season might unfold.
The first on-track contact between the orange cars might have given Brown or Stella reason to reconsider their approach to close racing. Many have criticised Norris` frankness, or even his openness about his mental health struggles as a young man, framing them as weaknesses. Those are topics and arguments for another day. What was clear departing Montreal was that, by reacting to the clash with Piastri in a manner completely consistent with the character he has always shown, Norris did himself a favour he might not immediately recognise.
As Stella highlighted on Sunday, Norris` sincere contrition meant McLaren had no reason to consider altering the approach that allowed Norris to get close enough to collide with Piastri in the first place.
Stella stated on Sunday: “It might affect his confidence, but it`s our role as a team to show Lando our full support, and on this matter, I want to be completely clear: it`s full support for Lando.”
“We will have discussions, and those conversations might be challenging, but there is no doubt about the support we provide Lando, and about the fact that we will maintain parity and equality in how we race at McLaren between our two drivers. That situation would have been different if Lando had not taken responsibility and apologised.”
